Ok, so I was super excited about reading this book. It was actually released last June, but somehow I missed that it had come out! “Glory” by Maureen McGowan is the third and final book in the ‘Dust Chronicles’ trilogy that I read a while back.
I really loved the first book in this series and have been thinking on the characters and how this story would wrap up, for months now. The second book didn’t disappoint, either, so I was happily surprised when I realized this final installment was out and ready to be devoured 😉
First, the synopsis:
Glory is a Deviant. That is what she was always taught, growing up in the domed city of Haven. She has the power to kill with her gaze, but she’s learned to control this power and use it only against the monstrous Shredders, who survive on the asteroid dust that mutated their DNA.
Now living in a settlement Outside, Glory has the chance to embrace her “Gift” and reunite her remaining family. But she can’t hide from the threat of Shredder attacks or the knowledge of what Management is doing to the employees of Haven.
Can she face losing everything she has left to bring freedom to Haven? Will she choose the familiar safety of Cal’s love or risk Burn’s dangerous passion? Ultimately, Glory must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe, and what it really means to be a monster.
The short: I give this book 2 stars out of 5. Yeah, I was bummed, too. Especially because I’d been waiting so long.
The long: Ok, like I said before, I really did enjoy the first and second books in this series. The world that Ms. McGowan creates in this series is suspenseful and thrilling, and I enjoyed watching as Glory escaped The Dome – where Deviants like her were persecuted and killed – and about how she came to survive outside the walls, fighting for her life to avoid the Shredders. What I did like about this book is that we finally get to see Glory and her family and close friends together in their new community. She learns to control her ‘gift’, as well as others around her, which is a huge leap for a few of them.
However, (here it is), I just felt like something was missing from this installment of the series. I’m not sure if I didn’t appreciate the present tense in which she wrote this time around, or what, but something seemed off. I found the beginning quite boring, waiting for Glory and Co. to face some action, and was finally satisfied when she moved things along halfway through the book. Then I was disappointed that the end was so rushed. It seemed like she could have spent much more time when the group was back inside the Dome.
As it was, serious conversations felt incredibly rushed and emotional reactions from certain characters just didn’t seem real. (When one of Glory’s “loves” dies right before her eyes, she doesn’t even cry. She just starts yelling at people. Odd.) Also, I was surprised to see the twist that the ‘dust’ was basically just drugs that people became addicted to and could go back to being human, as long as they were weaned off. The Shredders in books one and two seemed much more like monsters than anything remotely human, like what was portrayed in this book. The way it ended was, again, rushed, and just didn’t seem realistic for how easily everything fell into place.
I’m bummed that I couldn’t give this book a higher rating, but that’s that. What have you been reading lately? Have any recommendations? I’d love to hear what you’ve enjoyed reading lately. Feel free to leave a comment below!
Happy reading, friends!